NICKTOWN, Pa. – At age 8, Katie McCombie, of Nicktown, already has competed inside a Major League Baseball park.
Next up? A trip to the World Series for the third-grade student at St. Nicholas Catholic School.
McCombie will compete in the MLB Pitch, Hit & Run national finals held in conjunction with the opening of the World Series on Friday and Saturday at Minute Maid Park in Houston, where the American League champion Houston Astros will host the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies.
“It’s super-exciting,” said Katie’s mom, Adele McCombie. “Whoever would have thought somebody from Nicktown would be going this far?”
Katie finished among the top four competitors in the age 7-8 softball division, which included 18 regional competitions throughout the country.
“It is really, really, really, really exciting,” Katie said. “This is more exciting than softball season and more exciting than when we won our softball tournament this year.”
Katie McCombie, who is coached by her father Mark and her mother, won her local competition over the summer and advanced to a regional event in August at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
She once again placed first and secured a spot in the finals, held in conjunction with the World Series.
She will compete with three other finalists in her division, from Dayton, Ohio; Hoschton, Georgia; and Cold Spring, New York. The finals will be streamed live on MLB.com at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
Katie McCombie accomplished the feat in only her second season of playing in a local coach-pitch recreational league.
“I wasn’t surprised she won the local competition,” Adele McCombie said of her daughter.
“Both of my children qualified for the next level at Nationals Park in D.C.,” she said. “When Katie won there, we were totally flabbergasted. We weren’t even planning on staying for the Nationals game. When she won and we knew she was going to be recognized at the game, we asked her if she wanted to stay. She said, ‘Of course.’ ”
Then, the wait was on.
“The last regional competition wasn’t until Sept. 24,” Adele McCombie said. “We had to wait that whole time to see if she would end up in the top four. They take all the winners from the 18 team competitions. The top four of those qualify. She was second of the top four. That qualified her for the trip to the World Series. Amazing.”
Katie’s accomplishment has created a stir at the 140- student St. Nicholas Catholic School in Nicktown. Principal Theresa Burba said the school will hold a send-off party at 2:45 p.m. Thursday.
“It really is exciting for the school,” Burba said. “When you think about a small-town student in a rural area like this going to something famous is just awesome for the school.
“She is so quiet about everything,” Burba added. “She is friendly with everyone. A very kind girl in general.”
Katie McCombie’s third-grade teacher, Jamie Sherry, agreed with that assessment.
“Katie is the most hard-working, willing-to-help-anyone kind of student,” Sherry said. “She’s very outgoing. She has a heart of gold. She’s an A student, a very intelligent student.
“She’s always happy.”
Sherry said Katie didn’t make a big deal about her achievement.
“She doesn’t sit there and brag about herself,” Sherry said. “It’s like pulling teeth to get her to talk about this. The closer the event gets, the more excited she is getting.”
Her 9-year-old cousin, Lily Datsko, a fourth-grader at St. Nicholas Catholic School, hardly could contain her excitement about Katie’s upcoming trip.
“It’s super-cool. We’re eight months apart. We are like sisters,” said Lily. “She is really funny, kind and when I want to play something, she’ll definitely do it with me.”
Lily was confident in her cousin’s…
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